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Brains, complexity, leaders

Written by: Douglas Long

Article Overview: Our brain's area of control, our world view, and our ability to deal appropriately with the complexity we face are key factors in entrepreneurial and leadership success. The need to understand about the brain’s areas of control and to develop “blue zone control” becomes increasingly important as the business grows. Successful leaders are comfortable with the levels of complexity they confront and are constantly seeking new tools for dealing with the increased levels of complexity they know are around the corner

Brains, complexity, leaders

Most days I take our dogs for a walk - a pleasure I have enjoyed for many years. Honey is a reddish gold Belgian Shepherd, now elderly, that walks slowly and needs to rest every now and again. Lulu, my daughter's Maltese-Shiatsu cross, is young, small, bouncy, and into exploring everything: the business of going for a walk is exciting and filled with variety. Lulu pays attention only to those things that are in her immediate field of interest. She has absolutely no road sense - which is a bit of a problem because for quite a lot of the walk there are no footpaths and we have to walk on the road. Honey has a slightly different approach: she watches her environment and is more cautious. There is one part of the walk in which we go around a blind corner and over a rise - the dogs have no way of seeing whether or not there is traffic coming and there have been many times when things could have been very nasty had I not been able to see a long way further ahead and to be far more aware of potential problems.

There is a metaphor here for organisations.

I have spoken several times about the "red zone - blue zone" concept developed by John Corrigan, Andrew Mowat and me (The Brain of a Leader, Blue Zone Leaders Grow Others, Leadership - a no brainer, Neuroscience and Leadership plus see The Success Zone, 2009, Mowat, Corrigan & Long, Global Publishing Group, Melbourne) and I have made the point that a "red zone" area of brain control seriously limits our ability to deal with complexity. Recently I spoke also of world views and I referred to the work of Professor Clare Graves (Neuroscience and Leadership). I made the point that many people have a monochromatic view of life and, because of this, their ability to respond appropriately to highly complex problems is limited.

Some time ago Professor Elliott Jaques (Requisite Organizations, 1998, Casson Hall & Co) suggested that a person's ability to deal with complexity should be the key factor in determining responsibility levels. His research showed that the ability to deal with complexity ranges considerably. The vast majority of people can deal with things within about a 3 month period but this then tails off to only relatively few being able to deal with very long (10+ years) periods. He suggested that one of the reasons organisations get into trouble is because the people at the top lack the ability to deal with the level of complexity they face. (Of course this is even more of an issue with national and international issues where politicians are involved.)

One of my DBA students, Cedric Spencer, recently made this point following a study of Australian Business Statistics: "According to the ABS 60% of small business operators operate unincorporated enterprises while 40% operate incorporated enterprises; 92% of all small business operators operate one business; 6% operate two businesses; and 2% operate three or more businesses. At June 2006 there were 807,581 (41.1%) employing businesses and 1,156,326 (58.9%) non-employing businesses. The majority of employing businesses, 721,569 (89.3%) employed less than 20 employees. This comprised 494,196 (68.5%) businesses with 1-4 employees and 227,373 (31.5%) businesses with 5-19 employees. Further, there were also 80,215 (9.9%) employing businesses with 20 to 199 employees and 5,797 (<1%) employing businesses with 200+ employees."

The figures are probably similar in other places.

Many people decide to go into business because they have a good idea or because theylove what they do and they want to work for themselves - Spencer's 60% probably fit this picture. They are prepared to put in the hard yards and, because they know that cash flow is critical, they scurry around being very good at what they do. There is seldom any question of their work ethic either in terms of quality or quantity and they can have a very successful sole trader operation in which satisfaction is determined primarily by the personal effort they make. For these people an orientation to "red zone control" and a monochromatic world view is not a seriously limiting factor because the levels of complexity with which they deal will, with some exceptions, generally fall within the 3 month or so region. This is especially true if they have no interest in growing beyond the sole trader stage and they are willing and able to get appropriate support from people such as financial advisors, accountants and lawyers when they need it.

The situation is a little different if there is the desire to move beyond the sole trader stage - especially if a person is in Spencer's 8% who operate more than one business and/or if they are in Spencer's 41.1% of businesses that are also employers. For these there can be an almost exponential growth in the levels of complexity with which the owner must deal - an inability to deal with these levels of complexity may well be a contributing factor in those that fail. At the very least these people need to be able to look around and be cautious: ideally the ability to see a long way further ahead and to be far more aware of potential problems will either exist or be developed.

The need to understand about the brain's areas of control and to develop "blue zone control" becomes increasingly important as the business grows. So too does the need to understand and apply the work of people such as Graves and Jaques.

The good news is that, for people who want it, there is help available on business planning, understanding and applying world views, and developing the ability to deal with complexity. Coupling training in relation to these with on-going coaching and mentoring can heighten the probability of success and personal satisfaction. I spoke about this a little in "The Problems of Growth", "The Successful Leader" and "Leaders and Signs".

Most entrepreneurs I meet have a different mind set from sole traders. Sole traders I meet seem happy to be on their own, doing what they like, and taking responsibility for their own operations. The entrepreneurs seem to have another agenda - they want to build an organisation that can benefit both themselves and others. The successful ones I meet seem comfortable with the levels of complexity they confront and are constantly seeking new tools for dealing with the increased levels of complexity they know are around the corner. Most of these seem to have the mindset of a leader - someone who will create an environment in which everyone involved can be successful.

Related Articles
  Creativity---the Most Crucial Factor for Leadership Success
  "The answer is simple"
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  Complexity: The Execution Challenge You Don't See
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Article Tags: blue zone, brains, Clare Graves, complexity, Elliott Jaques, leadership success



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